Are you choosing to compare away your joy?

I saw the Theodore Roosevelt quote below and it really resonated with me. I can definitely get caught in the trap of comparing myself to others. I see the new car of my neighbor and although I like my car I find myself wishing I had a car that wasn’t 30 years old. I see thinner or stronger bodies and compare them to my flabby bits. If I am completely honest I must admit that sometimes I even see the gratitude that other people post and compare it to mine thinking that I should be better at this, more authentic, more poetic.

So yes, I see what Roosevelt was saying, this sort of comparison is the thief of joy. But then I remember that I am blessed with the power to choose. I can choose to not compare myself to others. I can see us all as one. I can see us all as people rich in some ways and lacking in others. Or I can choose to compare in the other direction. Instead of comparing myself to my neighbor with the new luxury car I can compare myself to my neighbor who doesn’t have a car or even to my neighbor who can not drive anymore because of her illness. This type of comparison reminds me of even more that I have to be grateful for.

So while comparison may be the thief of joy if we choose it to be. It may also be the giver of joy if we choose it to be. I choose gratitude. The gratitude question of the week guides us to compare our current selves with our past selves in order to find gratitude. What are you grateful to have that you didn’t used to have?

Comparison is the thief of joy.
~Theodore Roosevelt

My name is Antonia Montoya, born, raised, and gratefully living in Albuquerque, NM. When we notice, appreciate, and share our gratitude it grows exponentially right before our very grateful eyes. I hope you will join our gratitude collective.

[su_button url=”http://www.ourgratitudecollective.com/membership-account/membership-levels/” background=”#a2dc27″ color=”#444545″ size=”7″ center=”yes”]JOIN US IN GRATITUDE[/su_button]